Billups

Rasheed Wallace kicked over a chair on the Pistons bench. That was the most noise he made all night. Rip Hamilton went strangely silent in the fourth quarter. Long-armed Tayshaun Prince wasn't his usual spidery self on a three-point night. Detroit watched helplessly as the Heat frontcourt dominated the lane with shocking ease. Down 2-1 after this 98-83 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena, the Pistons must be in a world of trouble, right? Or not. Votes for Option 1 center around the two-headed monster for which the Pistons have no current answer.

Chauncey Billups considers himself an NBA historian, but the veteran Los Angeles Clippers guard admitted while receiving the league's inaugural Jack Twyman-Maurice Stokes Teammate of the Year Award on Sunday he was awed recently learning the details of the story that inspired the introduction of the trophy. Billups, a five-time All-Star and 2004 Finals MVP, was presented the honor by outgoing NBA commissioner David Stern before Game 2 of the Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena. He beat out 11 other players for the annual honor, including Heat forward Shane Battier, whose 1,324 points were second behind Billups' 1,543.

GAME SYNOPSIS Philadelphia 119 at Milwaukee 97 Rookie Thaddeus Young scored 22 for the 76ers. The Bucks were without Yi Jianlian (sprained ankle) and Mo Williams (abdominal strain). at Toronto 114 Seattle 106 Rasho Nesterovic had 17 points and a surprising six assists for the Raptors, as he continues to pick up the slack for injured Chris Bosh (knee). at Phoenix 94 San Antonio 87 Grant Hill hit a crucial baseline 20-footer with 1:15 to go to put Phoenix up 90-87, and the Suns outscored the Spurs 14-2 over the final 3:40.

Chauncey Billups will not have the option of selecting to play for the Miami Heat this season. Instead, the Los Angeles Clippers made his decision for him, claiming the veteran point guard off waivers in advance of Monday's 6 p.m. deadline. By rules of the league's new amnesty provision, which the New York Knicks utilized Saturday to waive their salary-cap and luxury-tax obligations to the veteran point guard, Billups cannot now be traded by the Clippers. By rule, players acquired through amnesty waivers cannot be dealt until July 1, but Billups will be a free agent then.

A few thoughts on how the Pistons-Nuggets trade could impact the Heat: While Shawn Marion hardly would be the best fit alongside Tayshaun Prince in Detroit, the Billups-Iverson trade did create significant cap space on the 2009 market for the Pistons, when Marion's contract expires. Of course, the Pistons could also string along that space to 2010, when Dwyane Wade becomes a free agent. Question: While the money would be a bit less, which would be more appealing to Wade -- staying in South Florida alongside Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, James Jones and perhaps another 2010 free-agent, or joining a Pistons team that would have in place Prince, Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell and Rip Hamilton?

July 10, 2013 Q: Is Metta World Peace on the Heat's radar after his release? A: Amnesty certainly will have teams considering options they might not have thought previously possible. But, remember, players who are released through amnesty (with the amnesty window opening Thursday) first must clear amnesty waivers, where teams with remaining cap space can bid. The Heat have no such space. Still, whether a team would want to commit cap space to the former Ron Artest at this point is questionable.

Former Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Lewis Billups was sentenced to 12 months in prison and fined $10,000 for threatening pro basketball player Rex Chapman in calls to Chapman's sister. Federal Judge Karl Forester gave Billups credit for five months already served. He said Billups would serve the remaining seven months in a minimum-security prison.

In a weak market for point guards, Pistons General Manager Joe Dumars wasn't about to allow Chauncey Billups to slip away to the Heat. Aware that the Minnesota free agent was receptive to Heat overtures, Dumars closed the deal with a six-year, $35 million contract that leaves Pat Riley's team with precious few options for the glaring void in its starting lineup. "I have the philosophy that you have to strike early, even if it's a big field," Dumars said Tuesday, during the Orlando Summer League.

In their fourth and final meeting of the season series, Heat-Knicks essentially returned to AmericanAirlines Arena for the first time in over a decade Sunday night. And so did concerns for the Heat, after they blew a 15-point lead and fell 91-86, in yet another loss to a potential playoff team rival. "We will have our breakthrough," coach Erik Spoelstra insisted. "And as painful as this is right now, there will be a time when we break through, and execute, and win a game like this.

Chauncey Billups will not have the option of selecting to play for the Miami Heat this season. Instead, the Los Angeles Clippers made his decision for him, claiming the veteran point guard off waivers in advance of Monday's 6 p.m. deadline. By rules of the league's new amnesty provision, which the New York Knicks utilized Saturday to waive their salary-cap and luxury-tax obligations to the veteran point guard, Billups cannot now be traded by the Clippers. By rule, players acquired through amnesty waivers cannot be dealt until July 1, but Billups will be a free agent then.

The party line from the Miami Heat has been, "we have enough. " In coming days, however, they'll be offered more. The NBA's amnesty-release program apparently also is a quick-release program when it comes to adding players to the free-agent market. Former Orlando Magic guard Gilbert Arenas, the first player released under the provision that allows teams to remove salary-cap and luxury-tax hits for one player under the new collective-bargaining agreement, became a free agent at 6 p.m. Sunday after going unclaimed.

In their fourth and final meeting of the season series, Heat-Knicks essentially returned to AmericanAirlines Arena for the first time in over a decade Sunday night. And so did concerns for the Heat, after they blew a 15-point lead and fell 91-86, in yet another loss to a potential playoff team rival. "We will have our breakthrough," coach Erik Spoelstra insisted. "And as painful as this is right now, there will be a time when we break through, and execute, and win a game like this.

A few thoughts on how the Pistons-Nuggets trade could impact the Heat: While Shawn Marion hardly would be the best fit alongside Tayshaun Prince in Detroit, the Billups-Iverson trade did create significant cap space on the 2009 market for the Pistons, when Marion's contract expires. Of course, the Pistons could also string along that space to 2010, when Dwyane Wade becomes a free agent. Question: While the money would be a bit less, which would be more appealing to Wade -- staying in South Florida alongside Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, James Jones and perhaps another 2010 free-agent, or joining a Pistons team that would have in place Prince, Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell and Rip Hamilton?

GAME SYNOPSIS Philadelphia 119 at Milwaukee 97 Rookie Thaddeus Young scored 22 for the 76ers. The Bucks were without Yi Jianlian (sprained ankle) and Mo Williams (abdominal strain). at Toronto 114 Seattle 106 Rasho Nesterovic had 17 points and a surprising six assists for the Raptors, as he continues to pick up the slack for injured Chris Bosh (knee). at Phoenix 94 San Antonio 87 Grant Hill hit a crucial baseline 20-footer with 1:15 to go to put Phoenix up 90-87, and the Suns outscored the Spurs 14-2 over the final 3:40.

Rasheed Wallace kicked over a chair on the Pistons bench. That was the most noise he made all night. Rip Hamilton went strangely silent in the fourth quarter. Long-armed Tayshaun Prince wasn't his usual spidery self on a three-point night. Detroit watched helplessly as the Heat frontcourt dominated the lane with shocking ease. Down 2-1 after this 98-83 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena, the Pistons must be in a world of trouble, right? Or not. Votes for Option 1 center around the two-headed monster for which the Pistons have no current answer.

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili knew it wouldn't be like before. San Antonio would not walk over Detroit in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. The Pistons, fighting for their championship, would not be run out of the SBC Center like they were in Games 1 and 2. "It will be like it was in Detroit," Ginobili predicted before Game 6. It turned out he was right. Everything was hard for the Spurs in Detroit, who suffered blowout losses in Games 3 and 4 and scraped out an overtime victory in Game 5, and in Game 6 the Pistons would not give up a late lead though the Spurs tried mightily to take it away.

The party line from the Miami Heat has been, "we have enough. " In coming days, however, they'll be offered more. The NBA's amnesty-release program apparently also is a quick-release program when it comes to adding players to the free-agent market. Former Orlando Magic guard Gilbert Arenas, the first player released under the provision that allows teams to remove salary-cap and luxury-tax hits for one player under the new collective-bargaining agreement, became a free agent at 6 p.m. Sunday after going unclaimed.